


Moving Forward

by Mayarene Rose (Paradise_of_Mary_Jane)



Category: Avengers: Infinity War - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Infinity War, Infinity War spoilers, Missing Scene, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony's not even here but he's somehow what this is about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 10:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14768237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paradise_of_Mary_Jane/pseuds/Mayarene%20Rose
Summary: Bruce and Steve talk on the way to Wakanda. A lot has changed, but some things stay the same.It's a conversation that's been a long time coming.





	Moving Forward

**Author's Note:**

> I'm alive!!! I am finally emerging from my academic haze and back to fic writing so yay!!
> 
> I am still writing _This is the World We Shall Build_ and the next chapter is coming along, but I've also been holding IW feels in me for nearly a month now, and I've been reading a lot of MCU fics and... a lot of people seem to like hating on Tony and I'm??? that hurts my soul a lot. So for the time being, I'm also going to be passive aggressively writing fics to rectify this. 
> 
> This isn't really spoilery or anything. The setup's pretty generic. However, it is set in Infinity War, so tread accordingly. This also takes some liberties with characterizations because... Marvel seems to be going the route of pretending that the emotional gravitas of Civil War never happened and no... Just no. We're not going to do that here. The beauty of having a shared universe is having a prolonged consequence to a character's actions, and if the writers aren't going to take advantage of it, then I will.
> 
> I think that's it! Oh yeah, I also wrote this in like two hours in celebration of finally having the time to write fic again so it's probably not my best work lmao
> 
> Anyways, onwards!

The quinjet’s engine is a quiet, comforting hum. It's gotten familiar over the years. Steve's sitting on his favorite spot near the back. Most of the team is up front. Nat’s still berating Natasha while the two of them stand at Vision’s bedside. Sam is flying the plane. Despite the welcome he gave at the Avengers facility, Steve knows that Rhodey is avoiding him. 

And Bruce…

Bruce is standing off to the side, like he doesn’t know how to belong.That hasn’t changed over the years. Bruce was only ever comfortable with Tony, probably because Tony was the only one who was ever comfortable with him.

(And Nat, for a time. Though, whatever they had once is definitely gone now.)

“Bruce,” Steve calls out. “Sit. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

And not enough time, he thinks. It’s depressing that it has to take an alien invasion to get the Avengers back together.

“Uh… Okay,” Bruce says.

He heads over to him, hands twisting anxiously, eyes flickering, settling on anything but Steve. He sits down on the bench next to Steve, but maintaining some distance. It’s familiar, but at the same time, feels as if coming out of a dream. It’s been over four years. Steve knows the movements, but there’s something lost there. Something that’s no longer familiar. Whether to his memories or to time is anyone’s guess.

“You doing okay?” he asks Bruce. Bruce nods absently, not meeting Steve’s eyes.

“Yeah--yeah, it’s just. Hard to process. Been Hulk for a while… Then, I wasn’t. Then I was again and I thought I couldn’t turn back anymore, but apparently that’s something magic can fix? Who knew, right? I was just starting to get used to being me again when--Well, when it happened.”

Steve doesn’t ask, though he really wants to. Bruce said something about Thor and Thanos and a ship of refugees being boarded. It sounds like a painful memory. He sounded terrified when he told them as much as he could.

Bruce isn’t meeting his eyes, though he’s always been like that. Steve doesn’t mind.

“Thor’s probably gone,” he says quietly. “Last I saw him, Thanos had his head in his hand like it was a plum while he was threatening Loki.”

Steve’s eyebrows shoot up. “Loki?” he says. “Thor said he was dead.”

Bruce meets his eyes for the first time, but he quickly looks away again. “Yeah, he’s not. No one can get a straight answer out of him if we asked about it, though. I get the impression he doesn’t really know how it happened, either. He’s not so bad,” he adds after a moment.

Steve’s eyebrows rise higher. Bruce must notice.

“Oh, still a bag full of cats,” he says quickly. “Guy’s definitely insane. But I think… I think it’s different for them, you know? We’ve been on the ship for two weeks and I think Loki’s literally stabbed Thor five times. Thor seemed to think it was funny. Val gave him a drink the second time.” A shrug. “I don’t know. They’re gods. They deal with things differently than we do. They don’t hold much against each other.”

Steve doesn’t know what to say to that, either. Loki feels like such a distant memory now. Thor’s never really stopped being fond of him and Steve had respected that.

Bruce's tone sounds a little too pointed. Steve pretends he doesn't notice.

“He’s probably dead, too,” Bruce says, after a beat. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve says.

Bruce runs a shaking hand through his hair. Steve makes a move to put a hand on his shoulder, but Bruce flinches away from him.

Steve draws his hand away quickly.

“Uh, yeah, that’s not a good idea,” Bruce says, not looking at Steve. “Hulk’s not really coming out right now, but he’s not… He’s not really happy with you right now, either. Better safe than sorry, right?”

“What do you mean--”

“Rhodey told me what happened,” Bruce says shortly. Steve flinches. “Hulk definitely knows how to hold a grudge, and I’m not really much better. If the world wasn’t ending, we would be having a very different conversation right now. I probably won’t even be the one talking to you. And there probably won’t be much talking at all. So yeah.”

Steve looks down at his hands. His heart is hammering in his chest, restricting the air coming in. It’s been a hard few years. He doesn’t like to see things broken. He  doesn’t like not being able to fix what’s broken.

He’s starting to realize that there are some things that are beyond fixing.

“For what it’s worth,” Steve says, raising his head. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to hurt him.”

Bruce’s eyes finally meets his, assessing. It reminds him of Tony. That sharp-eyed gaze that seems to pierce right through him, pulling everything out. Bruce rarely meets anyone’s eyes, even back at the Avengers Compound. It’s a terrifying thing to be under it now. He seems to be digging deep, unearthing every secret Steve has ever tried to bury. It puts up a long forgotten wall of defensiveness. Steve hasn’t had to use it in a long time. 

Not since...

Maybe that was the problem. All the lies and secrets and resentments. Too much baggage none of them said out loud because they were too focused on being a team. It’s hard to trust in people if you don’t know where you stood with them.

On the days Steve lets himself think about it, the Avengers never really bothered with that part.

“No you’re not,” Bruce finally says. “You’re not really the type for regret, Cap. Sorry.”

He doesn’t sound very apologetic. Steve opens his mouth to deny it, to say something else to defend himself. For some reason though, he remembers what Sharon said at Peggy’s funeral,

_ Even if everyone is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, ‘No, you move.’ _

“No I’m not,” he says wearily. He rubs the back of his neck. It's been an exhausting life. Steve wishes he could close his eyes and wake up to a world that made more sense.

Everything here is strange, ill-defined, trapped in too many shades of grey. The world blends together so seamlessly now it's hard to figure out who you're supposed to be.

Bruce nods. He looks away, hands momentarily clenching into fists.

“I only stayed for as long as I did because of him,” he says. “Not just ‘cause he was my friend, though that was part of it. Guy’s just fearless, you know. Bit insane. He poked me with a stick. Crazy but I knew he wouldn’t run away, either. He wouldn’t just abandon me.”

“Tony never knew how to leave anything alone,” Steve agrees. Until now, he’s still not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

“I met him, before he went off on on that spaceship,” Bruce says. “He told me the Avengers broke up. Like we were a band or something. First time I saw the guy scared enough not to do something.”

Steve swallows, looking away. There’s something about Bruce’s gaze that he can’t stand. He’s spent the last three years burying these emotions, focusing on the moment, on the next mission. He can’t afford to do anything less. And now Bruce is back, tearing through every defense he’s built and pulling out all the skeleton’s in his closet.

“He does what needs to be done,” Bruce says. “You’re a lot alike that way.”

“I think Tony would disagree with you on that,” Steve says.

Bruce shrugs. “Doesn’t matter now,” he says. He takes a deep, shuddering breath, before getting to his feet.

“I didn’t mean for it to end that way,” Steve feels the need to say. “I was doing what I needed to do. Same as Tony.”

Bruce falls still. His back is tense, fists clenched tight at his side. Angry. It looks like he's barely keeping his anger in check. There's not a hint of green on his skin.

“Like I said,” he says, not turning around. “We’d be having a very different conversation if the world wasn’t ending.”

And Steve is left alone, listening to the hum of the Quinjet’s engines as they approach Wakanda.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted someone to address CW in IW and they didn't and I'm sad. This is me fixing that.
> 
> Also, I've read a lot of CW fics recently and a lot of them seems to be pretty cruel to Steve. While I don't agree with Steve's rhetoric, like at all, in any sense, I don't want to rain my anger down on him. I feel like that would be disingenuous to everyone involved. And I don't want to undermine his intelligence, either. He's made a stance, and it doesn't make much sense to me, but that doesn't mean it's nonsensical. It certainly made sense to him. I don't want to take any sides, so much as I want to understand how both sides work. This is part of me working towards that.
> 
> Anyway, comments give me life :D  
> I'm also on [tumblr](https://discowlng.tumblr.com) if y'all want to talk about the MCU, or anything really :D


End file.
